Reply to What do you think of HS teachers who tell kids to write their own letters of recommendation?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am the immediate pp before your last post. I understand why your kid is hurt, but that is the least of it. I have worked in college admissions and there is a strong preference for letters whose students have waived the right to see them. The understanding is that they are more honest and reliable. Assuming that your child intends to be truthful, your child can not waive the right.  For some admissions people, that discredits the letter. [/quote]

OP here and I wasn't even aware of that and now I'm even more annoyed. Yes, I think the child would be truthful in that situation. So now even the letter she has been told to write herself will be discredited because they'll know she's seen it?

I get teachers are overburdened but there are likely no more than 1 or 2 other students at the school who have taken as many classes or done as much EC work with this particular teacher. Are teachers so overburden that writing a letter of recommendation for their 2nd or 3rd best and most committed student is too much to ask? This student is just trying to get into college.[/quote]

There may be another 2 dozen who have had that teacher and don't have any teacher who they've don ECs with to ask. [/quote]

Sure, and I can see asking those students to write the recommendation. [b]But THIS student has a special relationship with this teacher that very few other students have, and it's based on the effort and commitment the student has put into the teacher's class and after school activities. [/b]Shouldn't that be worth something?[/quote]
Is that from the student's perspective, or are you getting that from the teacher?[/quote]

OP and it is factual. This is a student I mentor. She has taken classes with this teacher every year of high school (it is not a required class) and gotten As in every one of them. She has been among the most committed students to the extra-curricular the teach supervises, and is among a group of 4-5 students who essentially help run that extra-curricular, raise money, organize events, do marketing and outreach, etc. I am very familiar with the school and I can only think of one other student who might be considered the "top" student in this teacher's classes and ECs. If you asked other teachers at the school about this student, one of the first things they would mention is this student's commitment to this teacher's subject and EC. There is really only one other student at the school you could say the same about.

I am frankly confused as to why the teacher seems so cold/indifferent about this -- I would have expected her to be excited to support this particular student, who is likely to study in an area related to this teacher's subject. This is the kind of student that most teachers I know say they wish they had more of.[/quote]

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